


Purpose of a Queen

by Links6



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Cliche, Deception, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Financial Issues, Hurts So Good, Inspired by Music, Izaya is a mastermind, Izaya is just sin, Izaya loves a tragic ending, Minor Heiwajima Shizuo/Orihara Izaya, OC is in debt, OC is manipulated, Original Character is a Photographer, Original Character is a clueless cinnamon roll, Plot Twists, Shizuo is a cinnamon roll, Shizuo tries to be sneaky, So Wrong It's Right, So much angst, everyone's a sucker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 19:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13014906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Links6/pseuds/Links6
Summary: Izaya finds one of the most powerful pieces in chess in his possession and decides to use her to her utmost potential.





	Purpose of a Queen

"Well done, Miss. Photographer," Izaya says, handing over the manila envelope with the usual amount.

"I have a name," Bethany Lachey snaps, handing him the flash drive with the photos of the informant's newest little pet project, "And don't leave the photos on the drive this time."

He takes the drive and copies over all the photos from the drive before handing it back to her with a grin, "Thank you for your hard work," he says, "I have another job for you."

"Already?" she asks, her surprise clear in her voice, "You don't usually have jobs lined up so consecutively."

"Actually, this is more of an on-going pet project of mine," Izaya says and rests his chin on his hand as he speaks, "Have you heard of Shizuo Heiwajima?"

"Uh…?"

"Well then, you have some catching up to do," Izaya says with a feral grin, jumping up with a giggle. He makes his way over to his folders and pulls out a particularly large file. He meanders over to her and drops it on her lap, "Study up."

"What the-" she groans, lifting the massive folder up and checking inside, "Okay…?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Don't expect me to read through a thousand pages of information on a guy just to-"

"Should I hire another photographer?"

"…. No…" she says and peers at the picture inside, "So, why him?"

"You don't need to get it," Izaya says and plants himself behind his desk again, "I just need you to do your job."

"A week long, like usual?" she asks and shoves the massive docket into her backpack along with the drive.

"No, I need you to do at least a three week cover…" he says and swivels around his chair for a moment before coming to a stop, "Make sure you get close enough to get real good ones too."

"I'm a photographer," she states as she zips up her bag and shoulders it, "Not a reporter."

"For what I'll be paying, you might want to try your hand at both," he says and holds out a ready-signed check for her to inspect.

The number was her usual pay, only… about sixty times over.

"I think you added one too many zeroes," she grumbles with a grimace.

"This is all yours once you report back," he says and shoves the check into his desk drawer, "I'll just keep it warm till you come get it."

"…"

"What?" he asks and smiles innocently at her, "I thought you would be excited?"

"A payment like that is usually much more trouble than it's worth," she answers and sighs, "So what kind of close-ups do you need?"

"Oh, I'm not sure…" he says, although his tone begs to differ, "What about a couple of case studies?"

"Studies? Of what?"

"His reactions…. Surprise him and make sure to get his reactions on film... all of them..."

She had been given pretty messed up orders before from Izaya Orihara and had always delivered, but this one was quickly topping the pile of weird requests.

"You want me to scare the crap out of him and document it for you?" she repeats, just to make sure she wasn't going nuts.

"Well that…oh! And one where you get him crying… maybe little Kasuka should have an accident..." Izaya says with an absurd amount of glee, already picturing how it would shatter Shizuo's world. He takes a deep breath, revelling in the moment before bringing his focus back to the present, "And his reactions to romance, as well."

"Hey-whoa-" she protests with a scoff, "I'm not seducing a guy that you obviously want."

"I don't want Shizu-chan, but I do want him to suffer..." Izaya clarifies and grins predatorily, "Are you going to do this for me or shall I burn this check?"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't being clear: I'm not seducing anybody. GOT IT?" she states and glares at the informant.

"Don't forget, Miss. Photographer, I'm the reason you were accepted into that University you oh so love," the man says and grins with an almost feral look, "Or did you forget?"

She stiffens up and bites her tongue. She didn't want to risk being kicked out of her University course and she knew he would one day pull this card on her. She knew she had let herself become prey to his games. And the feeling of being prey wasn't one that's easily forgotten.

"I don't care what methods you use," he says in an acquiescent tone but with the inevitable roll of the eyes, "Quick tip: He loves a cute girl in a dress..."

Because, Izaya Orihara already knows what makes up Shizuo Heiwajima. What type of food he likes, what his favourite pastries are, where he usually buys his groceries, where he eats for lunch... He knows what type of eye colour, hair colour and body type of women Shizuo seems to find attractive. All of this information culminates into a single person. A woman, in fact. A woman who didn't need coaching or training to do what Izaya was going to let her do. And she's even going to do it on her own, by her own free will...  
Or, at least, it would feel that way to her.

And then, when the time is right and all the chess pieces are in the right position...

"Whatever," she grumbles, managing to supress the awkward blush that was starting. Sighing, she heads to the door and quips, "Just don't expect this guy to fall for any of it."

"I'll see you three weeks," Izaya replies with confidence.

He can picture it right now, how easy it'll be. It's disgusting how effortlessly everything will fall into place.  
Because he knows, Shizuo mightn't be the easiest target to get a rise out of, but he would be the easiest to fall. And that's all Izaya's counting on.

Two days later and the project seemed to be progressing to speed. She nods to herself as she flips through her notes once more.

Shizuo Heiwajima.

Blond. Brown eyes.

Works for Tom Tanaka, the loan shark.  
Favourite snack: sweets.

Bethany sighs and shuts the folder angrily. She didn't even know what to think of the fact that Orihara has handed her a file so full of personal information about one person. It was borderline… no, it was legit stalking at its worst.

She looks up and checks the time.

Tom and Shizuo has been in this club for over half an hour now. It was already late afternoon and the orange haze was giving way to purple.

It hasn't been a very eventful day, after all. It was peaceful, the morning started with a drizzle which slowly gave way to the sun later in the morning. The air was crisp and full of the green earth smell that comes with spring.

She sighs once more.

"Rough day, huh?"

She stiffens up at the voice right next to her ear.

Tom was casually leaning over the bench, eyebrow lifted and an annoyed look on his face, "To walk all the way from Ikebukuro to the lower districts and then to have to sit around for thirty minutes," he rests his chin in his hand and smirks, "Did you see anything you like?"

She clears her throat and forces herself to smile, "I'm just waiting for a friend," she answers. Which is technically not false, but it wasn't true either.

"Don't you mean: Your Mark," Tom clarifies and narrows his eyes dangerously at her, "You found us, good job.".

She was about to counter, only to feel herself being awkwardly lifted up into the air by her own camera strap. She was dangling sideways now, awkwardly fighting air to regain her balance.

"What should I do with her?" Shizuo asks, jostling the camera, making her sway dangerously to the side.

"Wai-wait!" she exclaims, managing to perch her feet on the bench and unhook herself from her camera, "Please don't break it!"

Shizuo rolls his eyes and hands the camera to Tom –who then took his time to look through the photos.

"I was hired to take photos of you," Bethany says and shrugs, "Don't ask me why."

"Why?" Shizuo asks all the same.

She sighs and gives him a pointed look, "I asked but the guy didn't tell me," she answers and takes a seat on the backrest of the bench. She leans over and shows Tom how to work the gallery options, "I didn't realize I was being so obvious, sorry for interrupting your business."

"These are all of Shizuo… " Tom says and holds out the camera for his friend to see, "That was taken four days ago… you've been following us that long?"

"Oh… yeah," she says and smiles a bit, "That's a relief!"

They both glare at her, only to have her wave them off.

"No, I mean: if you only realized me following you today, then I didn't negatively influence your jobs," she answers, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world, "My job is to photograph, not to intrude."

Tom tilts his head at her answer, but gets the feeling that she was actually being honest all the same. He finally asks the question burning in both their minds, "So, who's the guy who requested this photoshoot?"

"Izaya Orihara," she answers without missing a beat.

"IZAYA!" Shizuo suddenly yells angrily, causing her to swallow hard.

"Yeah, I've done a couple of jobs with him before, is it a problem?" she asks, finally receiving her camera back from Tom, "Is he a stalker of yours or something?"

"Or something…" Shizuo answers with a low growl and starts pacing up and down.

"Izaya is an Information Broker," Tom starts and informs her of what's happened before in the past between them.

"Oh…" was all she could say.

The young woman's shoulders drop. She really hadn't known what type of guy she had been receiving her jobs from, after all. She thought she was working for some kind of private investigator, not a kingpin of crime.

"I'm so sorry," she apologizes and frowns deeply in concern as she meets their eyes, "I really didn't know."

Of course, that opened up a whole new set of problems for her. How was she supposed to handle this now? Her university entrance had only been accepted because of Izaya Orihara. If she backs out of the job, he'd surely get her kicked out.

"Why did you take the job?" Tom finally asks.

"I didn't get great marks at school, so getting into University wasn't an options for me… until I met him," she answers, blushing at the fact that her own lack of studying has landed her in this mess of a situation, "He got me into the University in the first place… so, taking extra jobs from him way a pay back the debt."

"At least she's honest," Tom grumbles and pats Shizuo's shoulder reassuringly.

Shizuo finally stops pacing and looks over to her, "He doesn't own you. You're already accepted, it's not like they can just kick you out," he states pointedly.

"Except, he can," she says and groans, "Or… that's how it sounds… I'm not sure how the systems work!"

And, without missing a beat, Shizuo starts grinning, "Well, then…. You shouldn't stop your job then."

Tom and Bethany looks over with identically stunned expressions.

"If the flea's paying you for photos, take all you want," he answers and grins, "And then, when the job's over, I'll kill him!"

"Kill him?" she repeats incredulously.

"Maim him," Tom tries to soften the situation with a nervous laugh and clears his throat, "Shizuo has a point, you can't stop in the middle of a job… but this way, we'll be able to work the angle better."

"You don't get it… he wants me to take photos of Shizuo's reactions," she says and looks over the blond man, "He wants me to photograph your reactions to everything, even romantic stuff!"

That little phrase has Shizuo's face lighting up like a cherry though.

"Sorry, but… it's true," she says and shakes her head, "I can't ask you to go all out for me just to help me out with this guy."

The strongest man in Ikebukuro takes in a deep breath to steady himself and finally nods, as if deciding on something internally. Finally, he just says, "Then, we'll do it together, okay?"

"Huh?"

"We'll go out and then…" Shizuo clarifies and looks gives her a determined look –although there was a reminiscent trace of blush there- "We'll get the shots you need to finish the job."

"I don't think so," she counters indifferently, crossing her arms.

"Oh, don't be such a stiff," Tom coos and chuckles as he swings an arm over Shizuo's shoulder, "Shizuo's a catch! Look at his handsome face!"

"No, it's not that!" she scolds, shuffling her feet uncomfortably at the situation that was now starting to form. "I was hired to follow him around for three weeks."

"Three weeks!?" Shizuo repeats, now beet red and completely flustered as the prospect.

"Told ya," she says and stuffs her camera into her bag, intent on just giving up on the job altogether, "All the same. Thanks for trying to help me out."

"Wait a minute," Tom says and grabs her shoulder, "It's not that big of a deal?"

"Tom!" Shizuo exclaims with embarrassment, completely at a loss of how quickly the situation has worsened.

"It's only three weeks, Shizuo," Tom says, suddenly grinning like he's won the lottery, "Right, Miss...?"

Bethany looks over in confusion, only to finally realize what Tom's looking for, "Oh... My name is Bethany," she says and tries her best to remain calm even in this embarrassing situation.

He pulls Shizuo along with him as he drapes his arm over Bethany's shoulder, "Come on, Bethany's kind of cute, right?"

Bethany, completely cherry red right now, can't help but smile grimly at the off-beat compliment, "Umm… thanks, but I really don't want to force anyone to-"

"No, no! You're both looking at this all wrong!" Tom says laughingly and pulls them closer, "You have three weeks to pull of the perfect fake romance! THEN, just when Izaya thinks he has you on the ropes, you get him! We can finally get rid of him AND we won't need to go looking for him."

"… seriously?" the young woman deadpans and looks over to Shizuo, gauging his reaction.

Shizuo, on the other hand, was so intent on the goal of finally getting rid of that damned louse, he was smirking happily.

"Well… if Shizuo's cool with it," she finally relents unsurely.

"Yeah, yeah," Shizuo agrees coolly, thoughts still stuck in the nirvana of the thought of finally being rid of the nuisance that has plagued his existence since Highschool.

She shrugs. It mightn't have exactly been the day she was expecting, but it didn't turn out too bad, after all.

A smirk formed on the face of a certain informant who was watching this whole scene unfolding on the other side of the road. The whole setup was playing out quicker than he had even hoped for.


End file.
